DESPITE coming in as a huge underdog, Christian Balunan looks to score an upset and dethrone International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight king Pedro Taduran in the world championship main event of “Thrilla in Manila II Countdown” Sunday night, Oct. 26, 2025, at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila.
“Yes. He’s a huge underdog,” Balunan’s coach Edito Villamor told SunStar Cebu. “But I trust Christian and what he did in training. He needs to focus on the fight and execute what we did in training. He needs to use his skills in this fight.”
The 23-year-old Balunan burst into the local pro boxing scene in 2021. He’s been dominating the competition in all of his fights. Last year, Balunan finally showed that he’s ready for the big league after a win over former world title challenger Robert Paradero in Bohol.
Balunan is tall for a minimumweight. He’s listed at 5’6” and has considerable height and reach advantage over Taduran, who’s only 5’4”.
“Yes. His length is a huge advantage,” said Villamor. “If there’s a chance, we’ll go for the knockout.
It’ll be tough to knock out Taduran, though, because he’s never been knocked out ever in his career.
The 28-year-old Taduran is at the peak of his career. He had his second reign as a world champion after a ninth-round stoppage of Ginjiro Shigeoka to win the IBF belt in Japan last year. He successfully defended his belt with a split decision over Shigeoka earlier this year in a rematch.
Balunan boasts an unblemished slate of 12-0 with seven knockouts, while Taduran is 18-4-1 with 13 knockouts.
World-ranked fighters Esneth Domingo (22-3, 14 KOs) and Miel Fajardo (12-3-2, 11 KOs) battle for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) Pan Pacific flyweight strap in the co-main event.
In the other main featured fight, Hongkong star Rex Tso (23-0, 14 KOs) clashes with fellow undefeated pug Sagar Chouhan (7-0-2, 3 KOs) for the vacant IBF Pan Pacific bantameight title.
In the undercard, Lienard Sarcon (13-0, 5 KOs) faces Junibert Bantay (9-0, 1 KO) in fight of undefeated warriors, unbeaten Cebuano prospect AJ Paciones (11-0, 6 KOs) trades leathers with Jeraldine Ocrarit (5-1, 5 KOs), Joperson Trazo (6-1-1, 2 KOs) faces Carlo Diaz VII (7-3-1, 1 KO), Claire Villarosa (4-0-1, 2 KOs) is fighting John Rey Labajo (4-3-2, 4 KOs), former world title challenger Gretel De Paz (7-7-3, 2 KOs) takes on Charimae Salvador (5-9, 2 KOs) for the Philippines Women’s bantamweight strap, Noli James Maquilan (11-3, 8 KOs) slugs it out with Argelou Samson (6-3-1, 4 KOs), Zyvyr Medecilo (6-0, 3 KOs) exchanges blows with Richard Garde (11-3, 9 KOs), Christian Legane (6-2-3, 4 KOs) faces off with Christian Gagarin (5-3-1, 4 KOs), Jhonel Lastimosa (3-0-1, 2 KOs) battles Anthony Galan (2-0-1, 2 KOs), Jerimy Balino (1-0) is taking on Eljan Balagtas (1-0, 1 KO), and Mike Gerente (1-0) opens up the show against Jian Denver Mananquil (2-0-1, 1 KO). / EKA